Time to kick it into gear

With the 2006 NFL season getting ready to take off there will be plenty of position battles. But, for the Patriots none might be as important as the Kicker battle. Both Martin Gramatica and Stephen Gostkowski will try and get a leg up and be the # 1 Kicker for the New England Patriots. So who's the better option? Lets explore both kickers.

Stephen Gostkowski – The former fourth round pick in April's past draft has showed an amazing leg in the past mini camp. In one instance he hit an 45 yard kick to end practice early, in which it forged the team from running sprints. There is no question that Gostkowski has the stronger leg, he also is a better kick off specialist. However replacing Adam Vinateri won't be easy, especially for a rookie. That's where a good veteran like Martin Gramatica could come in and really have no pressure.

Martin Gramatica – At one time Martin was on top of the world, winning the superbowl and going to the pro-bowl. However, ever since then his career has taken a huge fall. His leg is not as strong as it once was, as matter of fact when he kicks a field goals, it looks like Adam Vinateri's kick in the snowbowl (Barley getting over the crossbars). Not good. But, like I mentioned before he does bring that veteran presence back to this team. But do we really need that from a kicker?